GUEST COLUMNS: DECRIMINALIZING TRAFFIC STOPS

The Delaware General Assembly is considering
legislation that would reclassify most traffic stops by
changing them from criminal offenses to civil
infractions. It was introduced as House Bill 158 last
month by state Rep. Robert J. Valihura Jr., a Brandywine
Hundred Republican.

Attorney General Joseph R. "Beau" Biden III, a
Democrat, spoke in favor of the bill during a speech
last month as a way to lessen the criminal caseload
overburdening prosecutors and and the Court of Common
Pleas.

In guest columns Brian F. Dolan, a lawyer from Milton
and 2004 Democratic legislative candidate, warns there
are pitfalls in the legislation, and Paul R. Wallace,
the chief prosecutor for New Castle County, responds for
the state Justice Department.